Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph to the tune “The Lilies.”[a]
Psalm 80 is a communal lament composed in Judah (the Southern Kingdom) after the fall of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in 722 b.c.
1 Turn Your ear toward us, Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead the children of Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned above heaven’s winged creatures,[b]
radiate Your light!
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
arouse Your strength and power,
and save us!
3 Bring us back to You, God.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
4 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies,
how long will You remain angry at the prayers of Your sons and daughters?
5 You have given them tears for food;
You have given them an abundance of tears to drink.
6 You have made us a source of trouble for our neighbors—
our enemies laugh to each other behind our backs.
7 O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
8 You took us like a grapevine dug from the soil of Egypt;
You forced out the nations and transplanted it in Your land.
9 You groomed the ground around it,
planted it so it would root deep into the earth, and it covered all the land.
10 As it grew, the mountains were blanketed by its shadow;
the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
11 The plant extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea,
and spread its shoots all the way to the Euphrates River.
12 God, why have You pulled down the wall that protected it
so that everyone who wanders by can pick its sweet grapes?
13 The wild boar of the forest eats it all,
and the creatures of the field feast upon it.
14 O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, come back to us.
Gaze down from heaven and see what has happened.
Keep watch over this vine, and nourish it.
15 Look after the saplings which You planted with Your own right hand,
the child whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.
16 Your enemies have chopped it down and burned it with fire;
may they be destroyed by the sight of Your rebuke.
17 Let Your protective hand rest on the one who is at Your right hand,
the child of man whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from You.
Bring us back to life! And we will call out for You!
19 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
Psalm 77
For the worship leader, Jeduthun. A song of Asaph.
1 I cry up to heaven,
“My God, True God,” and He hears.
2 In my darkest days, I seek the Lord.
Through the night, my hands are raised up, stretched out, waiting;
And though they do not grow tired,
my soul is uneasy.
3 I remember the True God and become distraught.
I think about Him, and my spirit becomes weak.
[pause][a]
4 You hold my eyes wide open.
I am troubled beyond words.
5 My mind drifts to thoughts of yesterdays
and yesteryears.
6 I call to mind my music; it keeps me company at night.
Together with my heart I contemplate;
my spirit searches, wondering, questioning:
7 “What will the Lord do? Reject us for good?
Will He never show us His favor again?
8 Has His loyal love finally worn down?
Have His promises reached an end?
9 Has the True God forgotten how to be gracious?
In His anger, has He withdrawn His compassion?”
[pause]
10 “I can’t help but be distraught,” I said,
“for the power of the Most High that was once for us is now against us.”
11 I will remember the actions the Eternal has taken,
reminisce on Your ancient wonders.
12 I will reflect on all of Your work;
indeed, I will study all You have performed.
13 O God, Your way is so different, so distinct, so divine.
No other god compares with our God.
14 You, God, and Your works evoke wonder.
You have proved Your strength to the nations.
15 You used Your great power to release Your people:
with a strong arm, You freed Jacob’s children, and Joseph’s.
[pause]
16 The waters saw You, O True God.
The seas saw You and swelled in sorrow.
Even the deep trembled.
17 Water poured from the clouds,
and the sky boomed out in response
as Your arrows of lightning flashed this way and that.
18 The sound of Your thunder whirled within the wind
as Your lightning lit up the world.
Yes, the whole earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way ran through the sea,
Your path cut through great waters,
and still no one can spot Your footprints.
20 You led Your people as a flock
tended by the hands of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
A song of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations around us have raided the land that belongs to You;
they have defiled Your holy house
and crushed Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 Your servants are dead;
birds of the air swoop down to pick at their remains.
Scavengers of the earth eat what is left of Your saints.
3 The enemy poured out their blood;
it flowed like water
all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one left, no one to bury what remains of them.
4 The surrounding peoples taunt us.
We are nothing but a joke to them, people to be ridiculed.
The Book of Psalms records both the highs and lows in the lives of God’s covenant people. Psalm 79 is an example of a communal lament after the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of God’s temple. Songs like these address God with a complaint resulting from some sort of national tragedy.
Communal laments share a common structure. First, the singers address God and tell Him of their problems. Second, they beg Him for help and express trust that He will answer them, often remembering how He has saved Israel in the past. Finally, the singers promise to praise God once He has resolved their problem. The specifics of the situation determine the thrust of the song. Communal laments are often the people’s poetic and practical response to their perception of God’s inaction in their affairs.
5 How long can this go on, O Eternal One?
Will You stay angry at us forever?
Your jealousy burning like wildfire?
6 Flood these outsiders with Your wrath—
they have no knowledge of You!
Drown the kingdoms of this world
that call on false gods and not on Your name.
7 For these nations devoured Jacob, consumed him,
and turned his home into a wasteland.
8 Do not hold the sins of our ancestors against us,
but send Your compassion to meet us quickly, God.
We are in deep despair.
9 Help us, O God who saves us,
to the honor and glory of Your name.
Pull us up, deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for Your name’s sake.
10 Don’t give these people any reason to ask,
“Where is their God?”
Avenge the blood spilled by Your servants.
Put it on display among the nations before our very eyes.
11 May the deep groans and wistful sighs of the prisoners reach You,
and by Your great power, save those condemned to die.
12 Pay back each of our invaders personally, seven times
for the shame they heaped on You, O Lord!
13 Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
will pause and give You thanks forever;
Your praise will be told by our generation to the next.
1 When the judges ruled over Israel, there was a man from Ramathaim-zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim. He was Elkanah, who descended from Jeroham, Elihu, Tohu, and Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives: Peninnah, who bore him sons and daughters, and Hannah, who remained childless.
At the end of the Book of Judges, the world has descended into violence and chaos—it is, as the book concludes, a time when “there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what seemed right to them” (Judges 21:25). And their selfish desires are often very wrong morally, socially, and personally. Israel is a dark place waiting for a light to enter, and as is usually the case in the story of the people of God, God has a plan.
3 Elkanah used to go up every year from his city to worship and offer sacrifices at the altar of the Eternal One, Commander of heavenly armies, at Shiloh, where the priests of the Eternal were Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the days he made a sacrifice, Elkanah would share a portion of his offering with his wife Peninnah and all her children, 5 but he offered a double portion of sacrificial meat for Hannah because he loved her even though the Eternal One had not given her children. 6 Peninnah used to infuriate Hannah until Hannah trembled with irritation because the Eternal had not given Hannah children. 7 This went on year after year; and every time Hannah went up to the house of the Eternal, Peninnah would infuriate her. So, as she often did, Hannah wept and refused to eat.
The story of Samuel begins quietly, not with a great warrior coming onto the scene, but with the faithful prayer of a woman who wants to be a mother. The underlying message of the books of Samuel is, as in many other places in the Bible, that faith and trust in God are more important than any trust we place in human beings—even powerful human beings. Hannah’s prayers for a child, her absolute faith in God’s plan, and her willingness to be a part of it however she can, resonate as the kings and warriors begin to enter the stage. Without her faith, there can be no story.
Elkanah (seeing Hannah’s despair): 8 Why are you crying and not eating? Why are you so sad, Hannah? Don’t I love you more than any 10 sons could?
9-10 One day after they ate and drank at Shiloh, Hannah got up and presented herself before the Lord. It so happened that the priest Eli was sitting in a place of honor beside the doorpost of the Eternal’s congregation tent as Hannah entered. She was heartbroken, and she began to pray to the Eternal One, weeping uncontrollably as she did.
Hannah: 11 Eternal One, Commander of heavenly armies, if only You will look down at the misery of Your servant and remember me—oh, don’t forget me!—and give Your servant a son, then I promise I will devote the boy to Your service as a Nazirite all the days of his life. [He will never touch wine or other strong drink,][a] and no razor will ever cut his hair.
12 As she prayed silently before the Eternal One, the priest Eli watched her mouth: 13 Hannah’s lips were moving, but since she was praying silently, he could not hear her words. So Eli thought she was drunk.
Eli: 14 How long are you going to continue drinking, making a spectacle of yourself? Stop drinking wine, and sober up!
Hannah: 15 My lord, I am not drunk on wine or any strong drink; I am just a woman with a wounded spirit. I have been pouring out the pain in my soul before the Eternal One. 16 Please don’t consider your servant some worthless woman just because I have been speaking for so long out of worry and exasperation.
Eli: 17 Go, don’t worry about this anymore, and may the True God of Israel fulfill the petition you have made to Him.
Hannah: 18 May your servant be favored in your sight.
Then Hannah rose and went back to where she was staying. The sadness lifted from her, so she was able to eat.
19 The next morning, they rose early to worship the Eternal One. Then they went back to their home at Ramah, and Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife. The Eternal remembered her petition; 20 and in the new year, Hannah became pregnant. When her son was born, she named him Samuel, which means “His name is El (God),” because she said,
Hannah: I asked the Eternal One for him.
Luke, in this his second volume concerning the genesis of the Christian movement, doesn’t preserve Jesus’ teachings during those mysterious meetings with His emissaries after His death. Surely they are filled with joy, curiosity, and amazement as His followers hang on His every word and gaze on the reality of His bodily resurrection as He describes the kingdom of God. His words are undoubtedly intended to prepare each of them for this journey, a journey with a clear destination in sight—the kingdom of God.
An integral part of this kingdom is the activity of the Holy Spirit to empower the people of God as they expand the kingdom beyond the region of Palestine. Luke records surprisingly little about the day-to-day life of these early Christians, about how they integrated their faith into their culture; but he does emphasize the work of the Spirit who empowers miracles and gives believers the means to testify of their faith before Jews and the outsiders.
1 To a lover of God, Theophilus: In my first book, I recounted the events of Jesus’ life—His actions, His teachings— 2-3 from the beginning of His life until He was taken up into heaven. After His great suffering and vindication, He showed His apostles that He was alive—appearing to them repeatedly over a period of 40 days, giving them many convincing proofs of His resurrection. As before, He spoke constantly of the kingdom of God. During these appearances, He had instructed His chosen messengers through the Holy Spirit, 4 prohibiting them from leaving Jerusalem, but rather requiring them to wait there until they received what He called “the promise of the Father.”
Jesus: This is what you heard Me teach— 5 that just as John ritually cleansed people with water through baptism,[a] so you will be washed with the Holy Spirit very soon.
6 When they had gathered just outside Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives, they asked Jesus,
Disciples: Is now the time, Lord—the time when You will reestablish Your kingdom in our land of Israel?
Jesus: 7 The Father, on His own authority, has determined the ages and epochs of history, but you have not been given this knowledge. 8 Here’s the knowledge you need: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses, first here in Jerusalem, then beyond to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the farthest places on earth.
9 As He finished this commission, He began to rise from the ground before their eyes until the clouds obscured Him from their vision. 10 As they strained to get one last glimpse of Him going into heaven, the Lord’s emissaries[b] realized two men in white robes were standing among them.
Two Men: 11 You Galileans, why are you standing here staring up into the sky? This Jesus who is leaving you and ascending to heaven will return in the same way you see Him departing.
12 Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem—their short journey from the Mount of Olives was an acceptable Sabbath Day’s walk.
13-14 Back in the city, they went to the room where they were staying—a second-floor room. This whole group devoted themselves to constant prayer with one accord: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), Judas (son of James), a number of women including Mary (Jesus’ mother), and some of Jesus’ brothers.
9 He told the people another parable:
Jesus: A man planted a vineyard. He rented it to tenants and went for a long trip to another country. 10 At the harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants so he could be paid his share of the vineyard’s fruit, but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 The man sent another servant, and they beat him and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed too. 12 He sent a third servant who was injured and thrown out. 13 Then the vineyard owner said, “Now what am I going to do? I’ll send my much-loved son. They should treat him with respect.”
14 But when the tenants recognized the owner’s son, they said, “Here’s our chance to actually own this vineyard! Let’s kill the owner’s heir so we can claim this place as our own!” 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and murdered him. What do you think the owner will do to these scoundrels?
16 I’ll tell you what he’ll do; he’ll come and wipe those tenants out, and he’ll give the vineyard to others.
Crowd: No! God forbid that this should happen!
Jesus: 17 Why then do the Hebrew Scriptures contain these words:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone
that holds together the entire foundation?[a]
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to fragments, and if that stone falls on anyone, he will be ground to dust.
19 That was the last straw for the religious scholars and the chief priests; they were ready to attack Him right then and there. But they couldn’t for fear of public opinion, and they realized that Jesus, through this parable, had exposed their violent intentions.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.